http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/index.htmStudent materialen-gbxC 7.1.22896http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/it-39-s-vs-its.htmSun, 21 Oct 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/it-39-s-vs-its.htmenglishforumshttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/it-39-s-vs-its.htmWhen do we have to use "it's" and "its" ? The answer is simple: It's = it is: It's easy to speak English. = It is easy to speak English. "Its" is the possessive form of "it": It hasn't lost its charm. London hasn't lost its charm. So, are there absolutely no exceptions to this rule? How come the creators of this intensely confusing language decided to drop the apostrophe for the possessive form? Actually, that's not the only possessive form without an apostrophe: his , her , my , our also belong in this series of possessive determiners, so it would stick out as peculiar if its had an apostrophe when all the others do not: his, her, my, our, your, their , its This leads to an odd question: Who owns the food,...http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/20-most-common-idioms-in-english-and-what-they-mean.htmFri, 21 Sep 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/20-most-common-idioms-in-english-and-what-they-mean.htmenglishforumshttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/20-most-common-idioms-in-english-and-what-they-mean.htmThe English language is one of the vastest and most vivid languages in the world. It is made up of over 1.5 million words. Over and above that, the same word can have a variety of different meanings depending on the context it is put in; two (or more) words can have the exact same spelling but are pronounced differently, depending on their meanings. Today's article will mainly focus on those combinations of words which are commonly referred to as idioms or idiomatic expressions. It is important to point out that idioms use language in a non-literal (and sometimes metaphorical) way. This implies that ‘the meaning of the idiomatic expression cannot be deduced by looking at the meaning of the individual words that it is made up of'...http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/writing-letters-informal-letters.htmSun, 21 Oct 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/writing-letters-informal-letters.htmenglishforumshttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/writing-letters-informal-letters.htmAlthough e- mails and instant messaging have become the communication of choice for a lot of people nowadays, it's hard not to feel nostalgic about a time when I would sit waiting for the postman to bring me a hand- written letter from a pen friend. I used to spend a lot of time pouring over my letters and trying to write back, whilst making them interesting and witty. Nowadays, social networking sites have put an end to this activity, as it has become so easy to just "meet" people from other cultures online. Children have lost the feeling of accomplishment we used to get when writing a letter by hand. Granted that e-mails are obviously more efficient, as you get an answer practically immediately, but in an age where LOL and BRB are...http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/parts-of-speech.htmFri, 21 Sep 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/parts-of-speech.htmenglishforumshttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/parts-of-speech.htmEnglish is now spoken in many parts of the world and it owes its widespread use to the fact that it is one of the most progressive of modern languages. The language was first spoken by many tribes in Denmark and Northern Germany and was introduced to England when these clans settled in this country in the 5th and 6th centuries. The majority of the words in English are of Anglo-Saxon origin but, with the progress of civilisation and a continuous contact with other countries, many words are now in common use, which have their origin in languages such as Latin, Greek, Celtic, French, Dutch and German. Just to give an example, look at these three, very basic, English words and their similarity to the same word in other languages. ...http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/from-verbing-to-planking.htmSun, 21 Oct 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/from-verbing-to-planking.htmenglishforumshttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/from-verbing-to-planking.htmJust when we thought that no more new words could enter the English language, the phenomenon of ‘verbing’ came along. I will not go into detail about what ‘verbing’ actually is, since I’ve already written an article about this topic (Verbing), however, all I’m going to say is that this trend was yet another proof that English is in a constant state of flux. ‘Planking’ is yet another reminder of this! So what IS ‘planking’? Up to a few days ago (actually if I have to be completely honest I have to say “up until yesterday”) this continuous verb meant absolutely nothing to me. I was only aware of ‘ a plank of wood’ (meaning “a long, thin, flat piece of timber, used especially in building and flooring”); the verb ‘ to plank ’ (meaning...http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/what-is-a-simile.htmSun, 21 Oct 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/what-is-a-simile.htmenglishforumshttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/what-is-a-simile.htm"It's been a hard day's night and I've been working like a dog" In English, whenever we want to compare two things to each other we can use a simile. The main difference between a simile and a metaphor is that the comparison in similes is always indirect. In fact we need to employ words like ‘as', ‘like' or ‘than'. On the other hand, the writer or speaker using a metaphor would be implying that something IS something else. Let us look at some examples to illustrate the difference.... 1. Life is a journey. 2. Life is like a journey. 3. Life is as eventful as a journey. In the first example we have a metaphor (because life is being directly compared to a journey. The second and third examples are similes and this is illustrated by...http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/verb-ing-a-result-of-the-evolution-of-the-english-language.htmWed, 21 Nov 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/verb-ing-a-result-of-the-evolution-of-the-english-language.htmenglishforumshttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/verb-ing-a-result-of-the-evolution-of-the-english-language.htmHuman beings constantly feel the need to adapt to new lifestyles, especially when it comes to technology. In the last two decades or so we've all (or almost all) learnt how to use a computer, the internet and a mobile phone. We no longer spend hours on the phone talking to our best friends complaining about our heartaches; instead we use online chatting and social networking sites. Our deepest and most personal (at least that's how they used to be) thoughts and feelings are no longer something that only our closest peers know about. On the contrary, if I wake up one morning feeling sad and lonely, I have to make sure that I let the whole world know about it before even getting out of bed and starting my day! All this only boils down to...http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/list-of-idioms.htmTue, 21 Aug 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/list-of-idioms.htmenglishforumshttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/list-of-idioms.htmAn idiom is an expression, word, or phrase that has a figurative meaning or the associative or connotative meaning. Following is a list of idioms. Idiom Explanation + Example 1) Don't give up the day job. You are not very good at that. You could definitely not do it professionally. "I really like the way you sing, but don't give up your day job. 2) Cash cow. An easy way to earn money regularly. "Income tax is a real cash cow for the government." 3) Bite off more than you can chew. Trying to do something that is too difficult or time consuming to finish. "I'm glad you want to prepare the report by...http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/writing-letters-formal-letters.htmFri, 21 Sep 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/writing-letters-formal-letters.htmenglishforumshttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/writing-letters-formal-letters.htmWhen writing a formal letter, it is important to follow the right format and structure. You start with your address at the top right of the page and the address of the person you are writing to on the left of the page and below your address. The date should be written on the left of the page above the address of the person you are writing to. Below the addressee, you skip a line and then start with the salutation. If you don't know the name of the person you are writing to, use "Dear Sir or Madam," whereas if you know the person's name you write "Dear Mr Smith" or "Dear Ms Smith". Use the title "Ms" if you don't know if the woman is married or unmarried. The first paragraph should start after skipping a line under the salutation,...http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/colons-semicolons-commas.htmSun, 21 Oct 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/colons-semicolons-commas.htmMister Micawberhttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/colons-semicolons-commas.htmArticle submitted by Prajwal. Comma This has the following uses: 1. To separate items in a list: We need carrots, broccoli, oranges(,) and tomatoes for this dish. 2. To place a section of a sentence or noun phrase in parentheses: Garfield, the international cartoon character, is my favourite cat on TV. Pete, now sleeping on the sofa, cleaned the drawing room last night. 3. To mark divisions between clauses in a compound or complex sentence: These pesticides, if used on new lawns, may damage new grass. I went to the doctor's today, and he told me I had ptomaine poisoning. 4. To introduce or end a piece of direct speech: ‘No, sir,’ said Aarti, ‘He is the chairman of the GangaTech group of institutions.’ 5. To separate...http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/adjectives-adverbs-and-word-order.htmWed, 21 Nov 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/adjectives-adverbs-and-word-order.htmenglishforumshttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/adjectives-adverbs-and-word-order.htmWhen speaking, Adjectives and adverbs give colour to what we are saying. Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns and adverbs describe or modify the verb. For example if we look at this sentence- “The cat (noun) is on the table” - and add an adjective to it, it will make it sound much better and also give the person listening more of a visual picture of what the book looks like- “The big grey (adjectives) cat is on the table.” An example using an adverb could be “Jane walked up the street slowly .”In this sentence, “slowly” shows us the way Jane walked. When we think of adjectives, we first have to look at two forms- adjectives ending in –ed and adjectives ending in –ing. Adjectives ending in –ed describe how we feel about...http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/motivation-letters-part-ii.htmWed, 21 Nov 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/motivation-letters-part-ii.htmMountainHikerhttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/motivation-letters-part-ii.htmPlease see previous lesson titled Motivation Letters – Part I. In Part II, we set the foundation so that you can begin writing your first series of drafts. Notice, I said first series of drafts, meaning that you will go through a few quick iterations. In Part I, I indicated that a motivational letter is an interview where you get to both ask and answer the questions. By now, you have thought of your personal experiences where you can demonstrate three to five key strengths or attributes. In these first series of drafts, you will create your best drafts for yourself. What the heck does that mean? It means that these first drafts are for your eyes only. So I don’t want you to worry what others might think of your drafts. They won’t...http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/conditional-sentences.htmTue, 21 Aug 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/conditional-sentences.htmenglishforumshttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/conditional-sentences.htmOne of the most important grammar points to learn in English is Conditionals. There are 5 types, divided into the Zero, First, Second, Third and mixed Conditionals. Every conditional sentence is divided into two parts - the “if-clause” which gives the condition and the second part which gives the result of that condition. The Zero Conditional talks about a condition and result that is always true- always certain. We use the present tense in both parts of the conditional sentence. An example could be: “If you heat ice, it melts .” Ice always melts if you heat it, so the condition always has the same result - it’s a fact. The First Conditional shows us something which is a real possibility. We speak about a condition in the present...http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/time-and-aspect-in-the-english-verb-system.htmFri, 21 Sep 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/time-and-aspect-in-the-english-verb-system.htmenglishforumshttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/time-and-aspect-in-the-english-verb-system.htmOne of the problems encountered by students of English as a foreign language, whose level is more or less quite high, is more to do with accurately and consistently applying the grammar rules that they would have learnt in the past than with actually being aware of the rules themselves. It is, therefore, for this reason that teachers and linguists all over the world have come up with the following system to simply and to try and make this concept more logical. The starting point is to simply keep in mind that English tenses can be divided into two elements of meaning, namely time and aspect . The following table illustrates this very clearly. Time Aspect Present Simple Past Continuous Future Perfect This basically...http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/simple-compound-amp-complex-sentences.htmSun, 21 Oct 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/simple-compound-amp-complex-sentences.htmMister Micawberhttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/simple-compound-amp-complex-sentences.htmSimple, Compound and Complex Sentences (submitted by V. Suresh) Simple, compound and complex sentences are about the structure and length of the expression of an idea. 1. What is a simple sentence ? A simple sentence is one which has only one subject and one predicate. That is, it has only one finite verb (a verb which can change its form depending the time that the action happens or on the subject that controls it). Suresh eats lunch at noon every day. The finite verb is ' eats '. It can change depending on the subject ( Suresh eats, I eat ) or on the time ( Suresh eats every day, Suresh ate yesterday ). However, a simple sentence need not be one which conveys only a simple idea or is short in length: Being a responsible...http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/indirect-reported-and-direct-speech.htmSun, 21 Oct 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/indirect-reported-and-direct-speech.htmMister Micawberhttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/indirect-reported-and-direct-speech.htmSome Useful Tips on Direct and Indirect (or Reported) Speech (submitted by V. Suresh) Man is a social animal, a gregarious being, and he is always eager to share what he has heard. When he repeats to a companion what he has heard another person say, he may use the actual words of that speaker. For example, Murugan's teacher has made a remark, and Murugan wants to repeat that information to Anil, his friend: My teacher said, " I want to help you succeed, for your father is such a nice person." This is called direct speech . However, Murugan could also convey this same information in a slightly different way: My teacher says that he wants to help me succeed, for my father is such a nice person . This is called indirect...http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/passive-voice.htmFri, 21 Sep 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/passive-voice.htmMister Micawberhttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/passive-voice.htm(submitted by V. Suresh) There are two things involved in the action of a transitive verb: the actor (or agent) and the thing affected by his act. Since voice pertains to action, only transitive verbs (having a 'doer' and a 'done-to') can be cast into passive voice. Suresh constructed a strong house. This active sentence contains a transitive verb ( constructed ), an agent ( Suresh ) and a verb object ( house ); hence we can consider casting it into passive voice . Basically, conversion from active to passive involves (1) making the object the subject of the sentence, (2) converting the verb from 'do' to 'be done by' (in the appropriate verb form) and (3) setting the agent as the object of 'by': A strong house was constructed by...http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/verb-tenses.htmFri, 21 Sep 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/verb-tenses.htmMister Micawberhttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/verb-tenses.htmA Brief Introduction to Verb Tenses and Aspects (submitted by V. Suresh) Tense refers to a verb form which tells the time of a state or action in a sentence. Daniel has a car. Daniel will have a car. Daniel had a car. They played the game well. We are reading The Hindu. Sudha was happy last Tuesday. We are in Chennai. My son will look surprised on seeing this magic mirror. He will run here tomorrow. We need to know the structure and use of the different verb tenses so that we can employ the appropriate form with regard to time and situation. 1. Simple Present or Present Indefinite Structure: subject + V1 (dictionary) form of the verb. [When the subject is third person singular ( he, she, it...http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/motivation-letters-part-i.htmSun, 21 Oct 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/motivation-letters-part-i.htmMountainHikerhttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/motivation-letters-part-i.htmWhen you are done reading Part I, Motivation Letters -- Part II is now available. This is a rough draft of Writing Motivation Letters Part I -- Preparation. In Part I -- Preparation, the goal is for you to begin thinking about your letter . You want to begin considering what material to include. Unfortunately, this soak period usually takes two or three days. You need to reflect upon your life and consider important moments that helped shape who you are are today. Then, you will have to show examples from those important moments to demonstrate your passion for your chosen career. Congratulations, you want to embark on writing a motivation letter. You have thought long and hard about your career choices. Now, however, you need...http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/varieties-of-english-1.htmFri, 21 Sep 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/varieties-of-english-1.htmenglishforumshttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/varieties-of-english-1.htmAustralian English It is very easy to identify Australian English when you hear it being spoken, and this depends on a variety of linguistic features. The most distinct of them all would be the ‘broadness' of this variety of English. Another well-known feature of Australian English is elision (which is the omission of a letter or a syllable in a word or phrase producing a more easily-pronounced result) and assimilation. Often entire sentences are contracted into a single word. For example: "How are you travelling?" can be shortened to "Ayatravelin?" For this reason Broad Australian can be difficult to decipher to non- Australians. This feature is sometimes referred to as "Strine", which in itself refers to "Australian". This...http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/il-literal-translations.htmWed, 21 Nov 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/il-literal-translations.htmenglishforumshttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/il-literal-translations.htmFact : Planet Earth is 4th smallest planet in our Solar System. Fact : There are living organisms, more than 1.02 billion of them. They grow at a rate of 80 million per year. They are odd looking creatures that have 2 legs, 2 arms, one head and one mouth, amongst other body parts of course. They call themselves humans. They are nice enough to call the rest "aliens" Problem : These terrestrials are rather peculiar. They cannot wave their hands in panic to communicate distress nor can they merely smile to show happiness. Not at all, they need a language to communicate it. They have feelings and philosophies and have this urgent need to communicate them and as comedian Lily Tomlin fairly concluded "Men invented language to satisfy...http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/did-i-read-that-sign-right.htmWed, 21 Nov 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/did-i-read-that-sign-right.htmenglishforumshttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/did-i-read-that-sign-right.htmIn an office: Toilet out of order....Please use floor below. Outside a secondhand shop: We exchange anything - bicycles, washing machines, etc. Why not bring your wife along and get a wonderful bargain?! Spotted in a safari park: Elephants please stay in your car! Seen during a conference: For anyone who has children and doesn't know it, there is a day care centre on the 1st floor These signs above (which, by the way, are actual signs that have been spotted in different parts of the world) are just a few examples of how small mistakes in English can lead to a big difference in meaning. Just imagine the poor maid in the office mentioned in the first example! Or the wives in the second example situation! And what about those happy...http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/what-is-a-metaphor.htmFri, 21 Sep 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/what-is-a-metaphor.htmenglishforumshttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/what-is-a-metaphor.htmWhat is a metaphor? A metaphor is a situation (generally a literary situation) in which the unfamiliar is expressed in terms of the familiar . This is the poem Tranquility by StarFields: (Dr. Silvia Hartmann) Time slides a gentle ocean waves upon waves, washing the shore, loving the shore. The first two verses of this short poem immediately and clearly compare time to an ocean. In the remaining part of the poem Hartmann continues to conjure up the image of the ocean by using words such as 'waves' and 'shore'. 'Is time really an ocean?' The answer is simple, NO - this is an example of a metaphor. Examples: His head was spinning with ideas. Her home was...http://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/lexical-morphology-affixes.htmFri, 21 Sep 2012 22:53:03 GMThttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/lexical-morphology-affixes.htmenglishforumshttp://www.englishforums.com/content/lessons/lexical-morphology-affixes.htmResearch has proved that the average speaker of a language knows between 45,000 and 60,000 words. Where do these words come from? Is it really possible to store all these words, as well as all the grammatical rules and so much more information (that is not necessarily related to the English language) in our brains? These and a number of other similar questions have resulted in a very interesting aspect of the English language, namely the science of Morphology. Morphology is the study of the formation of words, which are sometimes also referred to as morphemes. In truth, a morpheme is the smallest MEANINGFUL unit in a language. Some examples include, pen (noun); the -ed ending such as in the verb work ed (implying regular past...